Prospect Info: Yaroslav Askarov, #11 Overall Pick

Yaroslav Askarov has been outstanding at the international level for Russia. At the 2019 Under-18 World Championships he had a .916 save percentage, won a silver medal and was on the tournament all-star team. He was named top goalie in the tournament. In four games at the 2018 World Junior A Championships he put up a .954 save percentage. He also led Russia to gold at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. Askarov was once again named the top goalie in the tournament as he put up a .948 save percentage. Askarov also played at the Hlinka-Gretzky, helping Russia to bronze in 2018 with a .913 save percentage and a gold medal in 2019 with an incredible .960 save percentage.

This season, Askarov played at the World Juniors, appearing in five games with an .877 save percentage and helping Russia to a silver medal.

Askarov has already played a KHL game, putting up a 2.00 goals-against-average and .920 save percentage. In 18 VHL games, his save percentage is .920. Askarov is the clear top goalie in the 2020 NHL Draft. He is also one of the best goaltending prospects in several years.

Yaroslav Askarov Scouting Report: 2020 NHL Draft #10

 

Really like this since Quinn was already off the board, great pickup if he pans out *crosses fingers* don’t be a Chet Pickard.

 

Welcome to Smashville Askarov!!

I wanted a forward but hey, we may have the best goalie prospect in the world so I’ll drink to that!

Look forward to his development!!

 

Well Saros will be traded in the future for sure now

 

Ask-arov Ask-arov Ask-arov You Suck!

 

We have the best goalie prospect since Carey Price.

 

Solid pick for you guys. He was going to be gone somewhere between 8-16 and there was plenty of teams 11-16 willing to move back so you couldn't really trade back and expect him there.

 

Sigh... not what I wanted. Hopefully turns out better then Finley. Any chance saros is traded now and ingram backs up rinne?

 

It seems ironic to say this but he's probably the safest choice from who was available. Highest rated goalie since Price.

 

sI'm happy with the pick. You never know what will happen with Saros in the future as goalies are so unpredictable.

 

Let's see where this goes. I really want to see him left in the KHL for a minimum of 2 more years. That has become THE goalie factory lately. Puts some pressure on Saros to step up too in the meantime.

I would have picked a different player, but I'm open-minded the way the draft played out that we might have got the BPA. Not necessarily the best fit to our needs. But possibly the best prospect on the board.

I do not fault management for making that pick. It's not something they are going to get panned for by anybody out there. We might like Saros and Ingram but nobody else out there feels that's a particularly stable duo to pin our hopes on.

Let's see where it goes.

 

He has this and next year left on his deal in the KHL. He'll come over in 2022-2023.

 

He will be better than Finley but not as good as Chet Pickard

 

I'd leave him over there another year or two on top of that. Unless we end up being totally desperate.

 

Originally wasnt happy but thinking more on it, I like it. Best goalie in the Draft since Price and there isnt a rush to bring him over. Give Saros another season or two to see if he can take the reigns. And then a potential Saros/Askarov goalie tandem sounds amazing.

Hopefully we take a foward with our next pick.

 

The only way I think this pick will be good is if we try to bring Askarov as the #1 as soon as he can, whether it be in 2 years or even sooner.
And when we can, the tandem will be Askarov/Saros until Saros is traded. There's no way Saros will stay as a backup for us after being used with Rinne just for the sole reason of being the #1.
The better one will stay and Saros will have his time to show what he's got.

 

I don't really agree with this pick unless we have no faith in Saros. Even if Askarov takes 3 years to come over, Saros will only be 28 at that point.

I probably should have seen it coming since Poile always takes BPA but still.

 

If nothing else this gives us years of entertainment and things to argue about. Especially because some forward taken after him is bound to break out before Askarov makes the NHL.

 

A few more random thoughts to look at for everyone about to jump off a bridge:

1. Askarov might be a part of our current core (Josi/Ekholm/Ellis , Johansen/Duchene, Forsberg/Arvidsson), but this move is for the future. Our U25 core is now Askarov, Fabbro, Tomasino, Afasynev amongst others. That really helps out prospect pool.

2. Look at the risk of Askarov vs. who was available. Let's say Lundell and Jarvis each have a 50-80% chance at becoming a top 6 semi-star, in the grand scheme of things do you pick someone with a chance at becoming a Price-esque franchise changing player? Especially if his chance at "Just" being an all-star is equally as high as Jarvis and Lundell becoming stars.

 

Look all of the goalies in 1st rd history in Preds history sucked. When the Preds first drafted a Russian star, did not work out. Don't f*** this up Askarov

 

Two. The two goalies in our 20+ years. Remember those first years of making the playoffs and everyone said we couldn't win because we hadn't? Same deal here.

 

Do we spell his first name with a Y or I? I hate Cyrillic

 

High risk high reward, love it

 

I see all the Saros comments, and it is curious to me. He isn't the answer guys. He hasn't been. This is very clear. He has to take a large leap to become a true elite goaltender. His rebound control, size, and penchant for letting in below average goals are hampering this team. With that said, if he corrects any of those areas, he could take the next step. I just do not think it will happen.

I said in the other thread: I hate drafting goalies. I hate first round goalies. I lost my mind when we took Chet Pickard.

With that said, the Preds were targeting him. I wonder where he was at on their board. I think he was top 5-6. I really believe the best way to maneuvar the draft is to go up and get the guy you want at forward, rather than waiting. Poile has never taken that approach. It appears they got their guy.

 

Saros was very much the answer for us after Hynes took over. Can he sustain that kind of performance over a whole season or a career? Well, sure, we have to wonder about that... at least up until the time when we get to seem him get that opportunity. But I don't discount it as a possibility.

I still think the worst case with Saros is that he can be... Halak, or Khudobin, say. Is that enough? It's not enough for the goalie to carry you singlehandedly to a championship, granted. I still don't think that should be our objective, however. Halak or Khudobin can be good enough to get your team through a few rounds on a little run, though. But first and foremost the rest of the team has to be a whole lot better. Get me to that point first, and then we can talk about whether Saros is good enough or not.